Whats going on with BA/AA? Its like these two want to get married but are quibbling about the engagement ring. I have an article here:

Relations Between Carriers Threaten Open Skies, Paper Says

London, June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Cooling relations between British Airways Plc, Europe's biggest airline, and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines may jeopardize talks between the U.S. and U.K. on a so-called open skies agreement on July 5, the Times of London reported, citing officials close to the airlines. Discussions between BA and American Airlines in London last week achieved little, and the airlines have ``lost interest in pursuing antitrust immunity for an alliance,'' the officials said. An alliance of some kind between BA and American Airlines would have bolstered the chances of a successful open-skies agreement, the Times said.

BA, Virgin Atlantic Airways, American Airlines and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines are currently allowed to operate transatlantic flights between Heathrow and the U.S.

Whats happening? My parents just went MIA-LGW and LHR-MIA, and complained that they could receive AAdvantage credit? How come?

An alliance would be a big mistake anyway - the KL/NW deal has worked so well for so long is that they are two big airlines that together cover the whole world, but individually could never dominate the globe, or even their home markets. However, both BA and AA (especially BA) have ambitions to be the biggest, and ultimately that would stop them from functioning well as a unit.

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Whats happening? My parents just went MIA-LGW and LHR-MIA, and complained that they could receive AAdvantage credit? How come?<<<

Russ,

The answer to your question is a simple one.

THe UK/US anti-trust authorities would not allow two airlines with 60%+ market share (BA + AA) on LHR-Americas city pairings to be in the same alliance (OneWorld) unless BA and AA agreed not to recognize each others FF milage on Europe-Americas city pairings + No codeshares allowed either etc....

This is why OneWorld is considered weak. BA and AA are hindered from cooperating more fully with each other because of anti-trust concerns. Hence both are looking for new transatlantic partners.